


A Christmas Surprise

by lionwolves



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Babyfic, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Pregnancy, whouffle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21811828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionwolves/pseuds/lionwolves
Summary: Clara finds out that she is pregnant with the Doctor’s child, but worried about how he will react, she attempts to hide the news from him.
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor/Clara Oswin Oswald
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	A Christmas Surprise

Clara looks down at the pregnancy test on the counter of her bathroom and can’t believe the result. 

She genuinely didn’t think it was possible with the Doctor, and evidently he didn’t either, because they’d not taken any further precautions besides her birth control. Surely that should’ve been enough protection, but perhaps not with a Timelord. 

Almost immediately, she fell into shock and didn’t process the positive result in front of her. 

At the most inopportune time possible, which is saying a lot for the Doctor, Clara hears the sound of the TARDIS landing in her living room. 

Leaving the pregnancy test on the counter, she rushes out of the bathroom and closes the door securely behind her. 

“Clara?” The Doctor calls, walking through her flat in search of her.

Clara rounds a corner to meet him. “Doctor! Hi.”

“Is everything alright?” He asks, narrowing his eyes.

‘No,’ Clara thinks, but she decides to claim the opposite.

“Yes, of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?” Clara asks.

The Doctor, satisfied with that answer, leans in to kiss her on the lips before he pulls her into one of what she calls his ridiculously good hugs. 

“What do you want to do today?” 

“You tell me,” Clara answers, peering into his eyes.

He smiles, kissing her again, but this time deepening it immensely. 

Feeling a wave of nausea, Clara pulls away from him abruptly. “No, I don’t feel too well, actually.”

The Doctor frowns in concern and takes out his sonic screwdriver to scan her. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t scan me,” Clara says quickly, knowing that it could reveal what she isn’t yet ready to tell him. “It’s nothing serious. It’s just a stomach bug.” 

He nods slowly, putting his sonic screwdriver back in his jacket pocket. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to the TARDIS medical bay?”

Clara realizes that doing that would also reveal her condition. “No! I just want to have a... chill day. No TARDIS, no adventures. We can stay here, watch Christmas films?” 

“If that’s what you want,” The Doctor concedes half-heartedly. 

Although she knows how much she hates being still, Clara will take this reluctant agreement if it means that she can avoid him finding out for just a little longer, while she processes it and how to tell him. 

Once the Doctor has removed his jacket and gotten as comfortable as possible for him, they end up on her couch, under a warm blanket, cuddling and watching whatever Christmas film has come on her television.

Clara pays little attention to the film because her thoughts are too consumed with the result of the pregnancy test, how she feels and the worry about how the Doctor will react to the news. 

She knows that the Doctor has had children, and grandchildren before, but that was ages ago and she isn’t sure if this Doctor in particular is eager to become a father again. Considering his life of traveling and adventure, with this being one of the few times she can get him to stay in one place, she doesn’t think he’s ready to do that consistently for the sake of taking care of their child. 

Even her, who loves traveling with the Doctor more than anything else, isn’t certain that she’s ready to give that up to raise a child. The realization worries her more than the thought of the Doctor’s reaction.

“Are you okay?” The Doctor asks her suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Yes,” Clara lies, feeling more and more guilty the longer she keeps it in. 

The Doctor nods, puts his arm tighter around her body and continues watching the film. 

Clara doesn’t realize that she had fallen asleep in the Doctor’s arms until the loud sound of the TARDIS’ phone ringing wakes her up. 

The Doctor tries to gently detach himself from her in order to go answer it. 

“Who is that?” Clara asks sleepily.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t do this often,” The Doctor answers.

He picks up the phone. “Hello? Oh, hello! Of course. Yes, I‘ll be right there.” 

Clara listens in anticipation of what the emergency is.

The Doctor hangs up the TARDIS phone.

“Where are we going, then?” Clara asks.

“ _We_? You aren’t feeling well. You don’t have to come,” The Doctor tells her. 

“It’s just a little stomach thing, Doctor. I’ll be fine. I can come.”

“Alright,” The Doctor answers hesitantly. “If you feel ill, you can always go right back to the TARDIS. Let’s go.”

***

They land on a planet that Clara thinks must have invented Christmas, by the look of the elaborate decorations as soon as they exit the TARDIS.

The giant trees are decorated from top to bottom with ornaments, ribbons, and lights. As they walk, the edges of the path between the trees is decorated with lights. 

“It’s beautiful, Doctor,” Clara says in awe.

“Yes,” The Doctor answers absentmindedly.

Clara gathers that he seems to be worried about something that they haven’t encountered yet, and suddenly something doesn’t feel quite right. The decorations are beautiful, but this planet seems too quiet.

She hadn’t asked where they were headed and why, this time yearning for more of a surprise, but now she wishes she had. 

The only person they encounter after minutes of walking is a finely dressed guard, wearing a sash and hat in Christmas colors. 

“Merry Christmas to you both, but you should not be out while the curfew is in place,” The guard warns. 

The Doctor flashes his psychic paper at the guard.

“Oh! The empress is expecting you, Doctor,” The guard says, looking over to Clara. “And your companion?”

“My girlfriend, Clara Oswald,” The Doctor introduces.

Clara thinks that she’ll never get tired of being introduced in that way, whenever it’s necessary to do so.

The guard nods politely. “Doctor, Ms. Oswald, follow me, please.” 

They are led into the throne room of an intricately decorated palace, less elaborate than it is within the city where they landed. 

The empress in question is a tall, gorgeous woman wearing a golden gown and a red headdress. 

The Doctor kneels before her throne, so Clara follows his lead and does the same. 

“Rise, Doctor, and Clara,” The empress says.

“Empress Valina,” The Doctor greets, moving closer to kiss her hand before stepping back to where he stood next to Clara.

“Doctor,” Empress Valina responds. “I hate that we must reunite in such unfortunate circumstances during the Christmas holiday celebrations.”

“Yes, we noticed that it seems quite deserted outside,” Clara says.

The empress nods sadly. “We’ve had to institute a curfew for the safety of our citizens until this issue is resolved.“

“What is it?” The Doctor asks. 

“Zygons.”

***

“Are you sure you’re feeling up to this?” The Doctor asks as he begins to lead Clara through the forest in search of the culprit. 

Clara sighs. “Yes, Doctor, I’m fine. I keep telling you that.”

He studies her for a moment before he accepts her answer. 

They finally come upon the village that the empress had mentioned as the site of the invasion. 

To Clara, it seems perfectly normal, with some adults going about their evening and children running around playing.

“What’s wrong here, Doctor?” Clara asks. 

“They’re not what you think they are. They’re shapeshifters, remember,” He answers quietly. 

Clara’s eyes widen as she really takes in the reality. “Those are all... zygons.” 

The Doctor nods, and proceeds into the center of the village. 

As Clara follows him, she notices that the villagers, or Zygons posing as villagers, stop what they’re doing to watch them.

“I need to speak to your leader,” The Doctor says to a man.

Behind him emerges a young girl. “Present.”

“You need to leave this planet and these people alone,” The Doctor orders. 

“We only want peace,” The leader responds innocently. 

“After you’ve slaughtered the former inhabitants of this village?” The Doctor asks, his tone darkening. “No, you don’t want peace. You want war.”

“Not all them were killed,” The leader replies. 

One second Clara is listening intently to the Doctor’s conversation with the Zygon leader and the very next second, it feels as though the world is spinning around her and before she can alert the Doctor, she collapses to the ground.

***

Clara awakens slowly in a white room on a bed, which she assumes is some kind of medical center. 

She looks around and sees the Doctor talking to a nurse near the door before he turns to see that she is awake. 

“Clara!” The Doctor exclaims in relief as he nears her bed. “How do you feel?”

“What happened to me?”

“You passed out,” He answers. “I brought you here to the palace’s medical facility.”

“Right. You were talking to the Zygon leader,” Clara recollects. “I don’t know why that happened.” 

“ _Don’t_ you?”

“What do you mean?” Clara feigns ignorance. 

“When were you going to tell me you were pregnant?” The Doctor blurts. 

Clara swallows, shocked both at the bluntness of his tone and the fact that he found out. “How— how do you know that?”

“The nurses scanned you in order to find out what was wrong,” He responds. “I assume you already knew and that’s why you’ve been acting strangely all day. It wasn’t some stomach bug, and that’s why you didn’t want me to scan you or take you to the medbay... because you were trying to hide it from me. Why would you do that?!”

“I was scared, Doctor!” Clara fires back. 

“If you were scared, you should’ve told me!” 

“I was scared of what _you_ would think.”

“Why?” The Doctor asks. 

Clara takes a deep breath while she figures out how to explain. “I know you’ve been a father before, but I know that must’ve been a completely different stage of your life, when you were on Gallifrey, settled in one place. Now, with the traveling and adventures in the TARDIS, I didn’t think you’d want a baby to ruin all of that and change the way you live.”

“Oh, Clara,” The Doctor begins softly. “Just because I choose not to stay still doesn’t mean I can’t. I keep moving, traveling, because I‘m afraid to stop, to look back. But having a baby... with _you_... wouldn’t ruin my life, it would make it better!”

Clara’s face brightens up into a smile. “Really? You really want to have this baby?”

“Yes! I love you, Clara. I thought I’d made that quite clear. I want to be with you, whatever happens. Of course I want to have this baby with you.”

Clara starts to sit up in order to kiss him, but not wanting her to move too much, the Doctor quickly moves in closer to meet her lips in a kiss. 

“I love you, too, Doctor.”

**Author's Note:**

> My first Whouffle/ElevenClara fic! I’ve loved this pairing so much for many years, and I’ve been rewatching series 7, part 2 and reading fics and loving them again, so I wanted to write something cute and fluffy. I hope you enjoyed it!


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